Playa Coyote and San Miguel, Costa Rica

The beaches of Playa Coyote are bisected by the Rio Jabillo and its mangrove estuary. To get from the southern (Punta Coyote) to the northern Playa Coyote (Costa de Oro), you must drive 5 km inland via San Francisco de Coyote.

Beach at Punta Coyote

The southern beach of Punta Coyote is in a large bay, fringed by a palm grove with a nice picnic area and camping facilities.
The tranquil waters here are perfect for children and non-swimmers. The bay is so shallow that at low tide the beach becomes a 200 meter broad expanse of sand while at high tide it is almost non-existent.

Surfers can rent boards at Tanga's beach restaurant to surf an excellent reef break in front of Punta Coyote.

The rocky promontory of Punta Coyote closes off the adjacent beach of Caletas, which forms part of the Caletas Ario Wildlife Refuge. The reserve was established in 2006 to protect one of Costa Rica's most important nesting sites for sea turtles.

The vast and deserted beach of Playa Coyote

At the northern end of Playa Coyote is the estuary of the Rio Jabillo where you can watch waterfowl like egrets and herons. With some luck you might also spot one of the crocodiles who live in the river.

Five kilometer on the road inland, San Francisco de Coyote is a small, traditional village with supermarkets, hardware store, and a car workshop. Despite the small size of the village there is a daily bus to San Jose which also serves the beaches of Bejuco and San Miguel. Other busses connect to Jicaral and the ferry in Playa Naranjo, but there is no public transportation to Mal Pais, Santa Teresa or Montezuma.
See: » Driving from Playa Coyote to Malpais and Santa Teresa

Sunset on Playa San Miguel

Continuing north along the coast, five km past San Francisco de Coyote a road to the left leads to the northern part of Playa Coyote which residents have renamed to the more appealing name of Costa de Oro.

Back on the main road, after two more kilometers, another road to the left goes to Playa San Miguel.
Both beaches, Playa Coyote and San Miguel, are one uninterrupted ribbon of gray-sand sand which stretches for miles and is blissfully crowd-free.

Looking south to Playa San Miguel and Coyote

In each village one single road parallels the beach, where simple vacation homes are empty for most of the year. For staying overnight there is only one hotel on the beach, other lodging options are found inland.

Surfing in San Miguel and Playa Coyote can be quite good, but waves tend to close out.
The beaches are not suitable for swimming as there are strong rip tides.

Beaches north of San Miguel:
» Playa Bejuco, Islita and Camaronal

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